Girls’ Life always has been and will be about girls. That’s not to say there haven’t been a few guys who inspired us or helped us along the way. The two most important guys of Girls’ Life, well, life: Bill and Dave. In honor of our 20th
anniversary, we asked our favorite guy experts to sit down and write a letter for
our favorite girls: Y-O-U. Here’s what they had to say.

An
open letter to our readers:

BILL: We’ve answered lots of questions from you over the years, and we’re continually reminded that, despite our best efforts, there’s still a huge gap in what girls know about guys. Guys and girls are like mobile phones with different operating systems. We can both do the same thing, but we usually do them in a different way. That’s OK, though. In fact, the difference between guys and girls is a lot of what makes life interesting.

If
I had to boil the difference down to one thing, one piece of advice that will
keep you from tearing your finely coiffed and lovingly brushed hair out, it
would be this: Guys like to be heroes. We may be clueless. We may be a
little dumb. We may be completely unaware of a conversation going on in front
of us, or the latest fashion trend, or even what color your eyes are, but we
truly want to be the knight on the white horse.

This
can be tough for girls because sometimes you just can’t wait for a guy to come
up with the obvious answer. You’ll ask us if you look fat in this dress.
Obviously, we’re not supposed to answer that. But we’re guys. We don’t know
that stuff. You ask if we have any ideas for a date. We might be good at coming
up with something the first time or two, but after that, we need your help.
Ever want to understand the mind of a guy? Throw a ball down the street and
watch how many guys chase it. Most guys will. Not much different than a well-trained
pet.

But
when the chips are down; when you need someone to tell you it will be OK; when
you think that no one cares about you, or everyone is laughing at you, or you
don’t know how on earth you’re going to get that homework assignment
done—that’s when a guy comes in handy. We like challenges. We like problems. We
like to be the hero. And though it may not always seem like it, we like you,
too. We need a companion with a different operating system. That way, together,
we’ve got everything covered.

DAVE: First off…wow, 20 years! Big congrats to the whole Girls’ Life team. It’s no secret that the lifespan for a magazine these days is shorter than Jennifer Lawrence’s hair, so this is a major achievement. It’s a tribute that GL has prospered for so long while maintaining such high standards.

Over the years, as y’all
asked great question after great question, I always had an answer. But I’m at a
loss for words for this column. It’s been you
who’s inspired Bill and me to be introspective, think harder, go a little
deeper into the motivations behind our actions. We guys certainly have plenty
of room for improvement and you’re always keeping us in line, making us better,
well, guys.

Girls’ Life readers teach me
a thing or two with each issue and, on this anniversary, I reflected back on
moments when the magazine inspired us to see the best in everyone.

Nostalgia alert!

A little while ago, I was involved in putting together a GL photo shoot. The girls were from very different backgrounds, from financially disadvantaged to physically handicapped, even the daughter of a superstar athlete. The genius of the feature was that the girls were all professionally shot in the same, simple white T-shirt-and-jeans outfit. Each and every one looked fabulous—however, the photos were not captioned. The reader was tasked with matching those great faces with their incredibly diverse bios.

This was not a fluff piece. But
it wasn’t surprising that Girls’ Life went there as the magazine always
champions diversity, featuring girls of all different shapes, sizes and colors.

That amazingly educational piece of journalism affirmed to me that Girls’ Life was in it for the right reasons and for the long haul. I’m glad Bill and I could be a part of it. We look forward to the next 20 years.

Make it known that I am very available and dying to go, and hope you crush picks up on the cluesWalk up to my crush and ask him to be my date. I’m not just gonna sit around and wait for Prince CharmingMy BFF and I have vowed to be each other's dates to spare us the embarrassment of not getting askedYou won't see me attending any dances with these two left feet!